Gay Bar Attacker Dead

Joseph D. Robida has died of wounds he received in a shootout with police in Baxter County, AR. Robida shot and killed an Arkansas police officers before he engaged in shootout with police in which he was wounded and his passenger, a female from West Virginia, was killed.

There were a couple of early references to a black trenchcoat that the shooter was allegedly wearing when he walked into that bar. Later news reports didn't mention it. Maybe they didn't want to draw parallels with another bizarre incident that hit New Bedford High School(Robida also attended this school) four and a half years previously. In late October of 2001 four teens--Eric McKeehan, 17, Michael McKeehan, 15, Amy Bowman, 17, and Steven Jones, 15--were arrested for planning an attack on the school. The black trenchcoat-wearing teens were "suspected of a plot to shoot faculty and classmates and then kill themselves" on the roof of the school.

They called themselves the "Trench Coat Mafia," after the assailants at Columbine. And just like Robida and just like the lads from Littleton, the teens were fans of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Perhaps another link the cops won't likely pursue is the police-run 'boot-camp' he attended back in 2001 for undisclosed offenses. It should be noted that yet another young trenchcoated gunman of recent vintage--Tacoma mall shooter Dominick Sergio Maldonado(11-20-05) claimed the officers had humiliated him during a youth summer camp years earlier.

Other questions that cops will have to answer, but likely won't, is where he got the gun, what he was doing for the two days on the lam, and the identity of the women in the bar that allegedly claimed she recognized Robida.

Interesting that his friends believe he didn't do it and is being set up. I am inclined to believe them.

[edit on 7-2-2006 by starviego]

There have been some interesting developments to this case. Police initially claimed Robida was shot twice by police, now they say he committed suicide with a single gunshot wound to the head. He initially shot his female passenger--Jennifer Rena Bailey--once in the head, now possibly it was twice.
In addition, he stole a rifle and shotgun from the home of the father of Ms. Bailey, recovered in his vehicle(though they were not used). Police admit that officers fired 60 shots at Robida's car, though, bizarrely, they also say none of the shotgun or .45 rounds penetrated the vehicle, instead going into its door and hood.

Among the items found in Robida's bedroom:
-A copy of "The Turner Diaries"
-DVD: "The Occult History of the Third Reich,"
-A belt of approximately 85 .62-millimeter machine gun rounds
-A black buck knife sheath
-Three Nazi flags
-A Samurai sword
-A makeshift coffin

Motive remains a mystery. The bar attack was described as a hate crime, though he had openly gay friends. He was allegedly a nazi, though he loved the Insane Clown Posse, whose lyrics "are very strongly anti-racist even to the point of being anti-white." "They talk about killing rednecks and crackers,” one observer said. In addition he apparently enjoyed a close relationship with his father, who also was able to keep Robida employed in construction. He allegedly wanted to commit suicide by cop, though he sought medical aid for the head cut he received at the gay bar, and both Jacob and Jennifer packed clothes for their trip.

So what happened to him?

His grandmother Jeanne said "I think a lot of Jacob's problems started when he went online," said, and aunt Vicky interjected, "It poisoned his mind."

The internet is where he met Bailey, a woman twice his age. Robida lived with her for 6 months to a year back in 2003. His relatives say his personality changed when he came back from West Virginia. "He told his mother that he couldn't call because the woman was 'watching him.' "
"When he came back from there, he was different," Jeanne said. "He was not as happy; he was withdrawn."

Originally posted by starviego
He was allegedly a nazi, though he loved the Insane Clown Posse, whose lyrics "are very strongly anti-racist even to the point of being anti-white." "They talk about killing rednecks and crackers,” one observer said.

There's a priceless statement if there ever was one. I think for right now, there aren't going to be any clear answers. The "woman" is dead. Robida is dead and his relatives aren't going to be in a mood to blame themselves for the situation.

I wouldn't doubt that much of Robidas problems came from having too much time to spend on the internet because there is so much to "poison" a mind here (so to speak). It takes a lot of other factors to create the kind of situation that happened in Massachusetts and Arkansas and we may never know the answers.

[edit on 2006/2/10 by GradyPhilpott]